The present invention is directed toward improving the acoustic imagery device as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,960 entitled "Acoustic Imaging" which issued on Sep. 16, 1997, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This patent is assigned to Hood Laboratories, 575 Washington Street, Pembroke, Mass. 02359 and Biomechanics, Inc., 25 Bay State Road, Boston, Mass. 02359. Hood Laboratories sells a Pharyngometic Wavetube in which the present invention can be utilized.
Briefly, the aforesaid patent discloses a light-weight, easy-to-use, hand-held acoustic imaging head. The imaging head is used by the operator to conduct the imaging procedure. The head comprises a housing having an elongated body, an inner acoustic pipe and other attendant elements and electronics. There is an aperture through the housing to provide communication between the pipe and outside the housing. During use of the device, the patient's breath may be exhaled into and inhaled from the internal pipe during, for example, pulmonary testing. Accordingly, it is desirable to prevent cross-contamination between different patients. It has become desirable to prevent this in such a way that it is simple, easy and inexpensive to do so.